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Rabbi Joel Landau

RabbiJoelLandau spent his formative years in New York and Israel. After high school he joined the "Shvut Yisrael” Hesder Yeshiva and served in the IDF as a commander in the tank corps.

RabbiLandau studied with both the Rabbi of Jerusalem’s Old City - Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl and the former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rav Shlomo Goren obm. He was ordained by the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem, has a BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences, a teaching credential, and a post graduate degree in Judaic Studies. Over the course of 16 years RabbiLandau served in two communities. First in Charleston, South Carolina, then in Irvine, California. His energy, creativity, erudition and leadership led to major growth in both communities. In addition to his shul responsibilities he was very involved with many facets of the Jewish community from the local day school to the JCC, Federation, AIPAC and representing Israel and Judaism to the community at large. Upon returning to Israel, RabbiLandau became involved with organizations that feed the poor and enable ultra-orthodox men and women to receive a college education. Before coming to Adath Israel, RabbiLandau was the executive director of “Israel Up Close” a non-profit film production company that identifies, researches, and reports on how Israeli innovations improve the daily lives of people throughout the world.

Rabbi Landau succeeds Rabbi Joshua Strulowitz who departed in 2012 to take up the Senior Rabbi position at the West Side Institutional Synagogue in New York. You can contact Rabbi Strulowitz at Rabbi@wsisny.org. Rabbi Shaye Guttenberg served as Interim Rabbi of Adath Israel for 9 months between Rabbi Strulowitz's departure and Rabbi Landau's arrival in May 2013. You can contact Rabbi Gutteberg at shaye@jsn.info.